Isanami is rescued. What else did you expect? Date Masamune- he did nothing but reveal his plans this episode. Isanami goes through a crisis of conscience because people that protect her are getting hurt, and Sasuke fails to convince her to leave her self-created cage.

I was this excited for episode 5. *squirms* Heehee~

Impressions

Argh, where to start. Saizou did next to nothing this episode…to summarize, this is the episode where everyone mopes around and is emo about their lives. Isanami can’t see her own value in the grand scheme of things argues against being rescued. So, even SHE gets tired of being kidnapped, ahahaha.

Anyways. This episode was saved by all the underlying drama that’s building between all the characters. Nothing like a little team drama to draw them all closer, right? The biggest part about this episode was that it wasn’t Saizou that saves the day, on either end. In fact, Saizou is one of the people being saved. I just think that is helps to show what kind of friends they have. Sasuke and Saizou might not like each other, as warring ninja clans, but they both care about Isanami. The whole “bro-I-fight-you because what I want to say cannot be conveyed in words because we are men” concept is an overused trope, but it works in this case. So they duke it out and acknowledge each other as manly men among men resolve their unspoken feelings about the issue through the fight, and walk away with a mutual understanding about each other. I really like this part, all this team-building is really starting to catch on for me.

Isanami overcomes her issues with trying to be unselfish, with a little help from Anastasia. The shuffling of the various parts of the team is a demonstration of the team dynamic to come. The Date Masamune issue is not resolved, but it put plenty of foreshadowing into that equation, so that’s definitely something to look into.

I started reading the manga for this show, and let me tell you, the anime is pretty clean compared to the manga. Several episodes back, Anastasia is attacked by the river while bathing. In the anime, she was wearing a swimsuit-type thing, but in the manga, she was topless, AND grabbed. This episode has another of those “close-call” moments, with Anastasia tied to the ceiling. The thing is, she’s letting them do that to her as a distraction to give a chance to Sasuke to rescue Isanami, until one of the guys makes a mistake of throwing water at her. ICE NINJA, ACTIVATE!

Issues with the episode? Mostly that I wish the colours could be a little bit more bright. :T This could be a gorgeous anime, and I want to see my bishonen in beautiful high res…but sadly, that is not the case. Sigh.

Impression- drama, drama, drama. The pieces are falling into place (we’re on episode 5, whooooooo!), and real action is going to happen soon, I can feel it, rather than just these little scuffles.